Bumboocha brings a taste of Hawaii to BYU-I

Bumboocha Grill, one of the Spring Semester 2015 Integrated Business Core (IBC) groups, brings a little bit of Hawaiian culture to BYU-Idaho with its popular atmosphere and chicken recipe.

Kenny Bracamonte, the current CEO of Bumboocha Grill and a senior studying business management, said he got the idea for Bumboocha Grill after he realized, while working in the admissions office on campus, that people did not want to be on campus during the spring semesters.

Bracamonte said that before opening Bumboocha Grill, the IBC group had to do testing to find out which type of food students would prefer to eat.

“We asked just a general amount of students, just trying to figure out ‘would you prefer this or this?’ and we gave them a couple of options,” Bracamonte said. “Pretty much our consensus came up to Hawaiian food.”

Bracamonte said the team found recipes from family friends and Pinterest, and then made the recipes unique.

Gabriela Alfaro, a member of the finance team and a junior studying business management, said the team also found the recipes from Hawaiian students in the Crossroads.

“We actually had a couple of focus groups where they came and tried the food to see how authentic it was,” Alfaro said. “And one of them actually commented, ‘Oh, this tastes like my mom’s chicken.’”

Scott Blumell, the current chief marketing officer of Bumboocha and a senior studying construction management, said that in addition to working on the marketing for Bumboocha Grill, he works in the kitchen like everyone else.

“I mainly cook and prep the chicken,” Blumell said. “I’m the chicken guy in the kitchen.”

Blumell said the sauce used for Bumboocha Grill’s Huli Huli Chicken is very similar to teriyaki sauce, but it has a Hawaiian twist. He said the chicken marinates in the sauce for 24 hours before they cook it on the grill.

“Once we cook the chicken, we just let it sit in a bath of more sauce, and then we take it straight from there to serve it,” Blumell said.

Alfaro said although the chicken is the top seller, it is not the only thing offered at Bumboocha Grill.

“The top seller is the chicken just because of that authentic flavor, but we do have pork and beef,” Alfaro said. “And we have white rice, fried rice, mac salad, our rolls and our drinks.”

Alfaro said their drinks include non-alcoholic piña colada, raspberry peach lemonade, Hawaiian Nectar and pomegranate lemonade. She said Bumboocha Grill sells cupcakes too, but only by preorder.

“As long as it’s a day beforehand, then it’s good to go,” Alfaro said. “That way we can get them done in time.”

Alfaro said several students have asked why Bumboocha Grill is located in the John L. Clarke building instead of The Crossroads.

“This was just the room that was given to us, but it’s definitely worth the walk,” Alfaro said. “And we really like the setup. It’s a full-sized kitchen. We have everything that we need to prepare the food.”

Bracamonte said the team wanted to be in The Crossroads because it was an ideal location, but there were some underlying factors that changed the location of Bumboocha Grill.

He said the staff tried to create a unique environment in the room they were given.

“We wanted to try to create its own little niche,” Bracamonte said. “Its an environment that not a lot of people know about, but they can come and relax here, and it’s easier to get away from The Crossroads’ atmosphere.”

Gabbi Pericle, a senior studying health science, said she was originally not expecting Bumboocha Grill to be a sit-down restaurant.

“I was really surprised by the set up in here,” Pericle said. “I thought you just picked up the food. I really like it though.”

Rachel King, a senior studying biology, said she found out about Bumboocha Grill by seeing its signs every day as she walked up the hill to and from campus.

“I really wanted meat, and it looks delicious, so I tried it,” King said.

King said she tried a sample of the Huli Huli chicken her first time visiting Bumboocha Grill and was hooked.

“I also got the fried rice, and it had a ton of vegetables in it,” King said. “It wasn’t just like one or two carrots. It was excellently seasoned and it was just really good. It really was good bang for your buck.”

Bumboocha Grill is located in the John L. Clarke building room 341 and is open from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. They also cater events and can be found on Facebook by searching “Bumboocha Grill.”